Episode
FIGHTING BACK - A PILL, A LIE, AND HALF A MILLION DEAD: THE SACKLERS AND PURDUE PHARMA — PART 1
- Published
- May 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1107
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Summary
They called it a miracle of pain management. Their own salespeople called it a drug. Their own documents called it a franchise. Garret Fisher opens the two-part Purdue Pharma story — the most destructive corporate drug case in American history. In 1996 the Sackler family's privately owned pharmaceutical company launched OxyContin with a marketing campaign built on a lie: that this powerful opioid was less addictive than existing painkillers because of its slow-release formula. Internal documents show the company knew the 12-hour dosing claim was false. They knew. They told their salespeople to say it anyway. They paid doctors to prescribe it, sent them on all-expenses-paid "educational" vacations, and targeted the highest prescribers with uncapped commission incentives. Prescriptions for OxyContin went from 670,000 in 1997 to 6.2 million in 2002. And as the overdose deaths mounted, the Sackler family began moving money out of the company — ultimately transferring approximately $11 billion into private trusts. This is Part 1. Join our new FB groups page here. Take the poll! Join the Daily Crime & Justice community on social media! We're building a passionate group of true crime enthusiasts who love diving deep into the most shocking cases in America. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram by searching "Daily Crime & Justice" on either platform. You'll get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, breaking news updates on cases we're covering, and early alerts when new episodes drop. Our social media is where Garret Fisher's hottest takes live, including reactions that don't make it into the show. But more importantly, it's where YOU come in. Share your theories, debate the verdicts, and connect with fellow listeners who are just as obsessed with justice as you are. Did…